Apparatus for continuously making vulcanized articles



/N [/5 N TOR a. F. ADAMS a. 5' BERGGREN A TTORNEV G. P. ADAMS ETAL APPARATUS FOR CONTINUOUSLY MAKING VULCANIZED ARTICLES Filed May 22, 1947 Aug. 9, 1949.

lg In Patented Aug. 9, 1949 TED ArPARA'rUsFoa CoNTmUO SLY-MAKING f l .VULCANIZED narrows r I g George P. Adams and George Berggren, -Baltimore, Md.,:.assignors to Western Electric GomnanL-Jncnrmtmd; New- York,-. N. Y., a:cnrpora-= tion of New York Application May- 22, 1947., Serial Nor 749,825

- 4- Glaims.

7 ifihispinvention relatesto apparatus for con;-

:ti-nuonsly making vulcanized: articles, and more particularly to apparatus ier cooling continuous Jengt-hsof vulcanizedearticles emerging from vulcanizedttubes having steam under a highpressure; therein :and for sealing the steam in. the .uulcanizin tubes from theatmosphere.

glmtheimanufacturea of filamentary articles having; vulcanizaflele coverings around acres, which sinQl des elements ofihygmscopic materials such as tex iileimatell alst such a, coreis sometimes passed :thriouehan extender. -Which extrudes a coverin vul anizable-materialvtherepver, and thenis passed throu h a vuicanizing, tube .to vulcanize celietihgi The vulcanizingrtube has steam at a..:hi h itemperfli l i'e and under a high pressure -.t ere.iri,. and. the heat of the steam 1Vaporizes mmstune: in. the hygroscopicelements of thecore.

.In-the past elongated water seals-having cold under a. high pressure therein have been used-to-oool the-coveredconductors and have been placedzinz tandem with the vulcanizingtube. Due tothe high pressureof thesteam to be sealed and the'highwire speed operation of the apparatus, the seal-had: to-be very long in order to effect-the necessary coolingunder-- high pressure ofthe covered oonductor and to reduce the pressure of the vaporized moisture enclosed thereby, as a result suchseals have required alargeamount of floor space. U-shaped cooling tubes have been proposedto lessen the floor-space needed for such a seal without decreasing th length .of the. seal,

but "-U-s-haped seals theretofore known have been dlfliculttoth'readwiththe conductors due to'the bend therein.

An object of the invention is to provide new V cess to the interior of the seal to faci-litate stringing filamentar articles throughthe seal; I

Air-apparatus illustrating certain iieatures of the invention includes a, water tighthousi-nghaving an- --in1etancl an outlet, a sheave mounted rottatabIy-in the housing; said housing having a sit cular opening in one side thereof and' a socket formed-in the-other side thereof, a; plate for closingthe opening-in thehousingyand a shaft for mounting the plate provided with a threaded portion for engaging the threaded portion of the socket, said threadedportion of the shaft being designed to lee-screwed completely through the threadedportion of the socket-topermit the-shaft "to be slidturtherinto'the socket tomo'v'e the plate away from the opening: to provide access to the interior'ofthe'housing.

A complete understanding of the -invention may be. madefromthe following detailed description of an apparatus forming :aspecific embodiment thereof, when read in conjunction 'with the appendeddrawingsimwhioh:

.Fig. itiszafragmentary, side elevation oiaportion..zofzanfapparatus: illustrating certain features of theinvention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section taken :alongrline:2-.2v of' Fig. '1

Big; :3 is. an, enlarged side elevation of the appa-ratus;.taken along line .3-3: of Fig.2, :and T Fig. :41 is. an enlarged, fragmentary: vertical sec tiontalren along; line 1:ll:-of Fig. 3.

Referring now in. detail to the drawings; there isshowntherein: a--continuous.extruding and-viiicanizin machine-for forming and vulcanizing .a protective covering .l:0-. (Figl) around .a 'filamentary. core; H; Informing the coveringaround the core, the coreis advanced. continuously from asupply. reeiv I: at a. high rate .ofispeedrby'asupply capstan. l5. disclosed and: claimed; in copendfing. application: SerialNo. 697 8.09, filed; September .8, .1946, by .D. D... Jones, for Apparatus for cover.- ing pores, and is. advanced continuously from the supply capstan l5 through an1ex-truder:l:.6., ;an elongated vulcanizing tube H, a cooling. andisealing unit I8, and-a cooling trough l91to-gataleeup reel 20 by, a. takeup;-capstan- '21. -Asthe;core 121 is drawn fromthesupply capstan l5 itpasses through theextruder l6, whichextrudesthe covering ,ot the vulcanizable insulation. thereover. covered core then passes into the. elongated vulcanizing tube #1, which hassteam under a high. pressurev supplied thereto. .by a steam pipe '25. whereby the/covering is vulcanized while/it .is

advanced through the. Mulcanizing' tube. The

.15 coy red .core passes from the vnlcanizi-ngtnbe into and through the unit l8, wherein the covering is cooled by cold water maintained under a high exterior pressure and supplied to the seal through an inlet pipe 30. A portion of the water is drained from the unit It through a drain pipe 3|.

The unit |8 includes an entrancepipeAll and an exitfsealing pipe 4. conne.ctedto an inlet 42 and an outlet 43, respectively, of a return housing 44, in which the covered core is passed around a return sheave 45. A plurality of baliles 44 44 mounted in the sealing pipe4l reduces thepressure of the water to a pressure not much above that of the atmosphere at the right end of the pipe 4|, as viewed in Fig. 1,; and maintain the pressure of the water at a high pressure at the left end of the pipe 4|. The return sheave 45 is mounted rotatably upon a boss 46 (Fig. 2) in a position in which the center lines of the inlet 42 and the outlet 43 are tangent to the sheave. The sheave serves to guide the covered core through the return housing 44 from the inlet 4|] to the outlet 4|.

The boss 45 is provided with a bore and an internal thread 52 projecting from the periphery of the bore al'onga relatively short portion of the bore. A housing section 50 and a housing section 53 of the housing 44 are secured togetherin watertight relationship by bolts BEL-50 and a gasket 5|. The housing section 53 is provided with'a circular hand hole 62 in alignment with and opposite to the boss 45, and also is provided with an inwardly facing counterbore 53, in which a sealing ring 54 having a bevelled face 65 fixed. A closure plate 1|! having a bevelled periphery 1| complementary to the bevelled face 65 of the gasket 64 is mounted on an arbor 12, which fits slidably in a socket 55 formed in the closure plate. The right end of the socket 65, as viewed in Fig. 4, is enlarged to catch any debris which might get into the socket, thereby preventing the debris from lodging between the base of thesocket'and the end of the arbor. The arbor 12 hasa relatively long unthreaded section 13 and a relatively short thread 14 which projects radially from the periphery of the arbor and is complementary to the thread 52 in the bore 5|.

The closure plate may be rotated by a handle fastened theretorto thread the arbor 12 further into the bore 5| in the boss 46 to effect disengagement between the threads 52 and 14. The

plate 10, then may be pushed to slide the arbor to the left, as viewed in Fig. 2, farther into the bore 5| to move the plate 10 to a. position almost abutting the return sheave 45. This provides clearance in the hole 62 so that an operator of the apparatus may get both hands into the housing to manipulate the covered core in stringing it through the vulcanizing tube H and the seal I3. The closure plate 10 has a diameter smaller than that of the return sheave 45 so that the covered core may be placed in correct position on the return sheave 45 without interference from the closure plate l0.

A reduced end portion 80 (Fig. 4) of the arbor I2 fits slidably into the socket 65 formed in a hub 82 of the closure plate 10. The ends of bolt-like keys 8383 threaded into tapped bores' 84 -84 formed in the hub 82 project into elongated keyways 8585 formed in the reduced 'end portion 80 of the arbor. Hence, the plate 10 may be slid axially with respect tothe arbor between a position in which the keys abut end portions 9|l9ll of the keyways 85-85 and a shoulder 92 formed on the arbor and a position in which the keys abut end portions 9|-9| of the keyways. After the it. on the arbor 12.

4 arbor 12 has been screwed far enough to move the face N (Fig. 2) of the plate 10 against the face 65 of the sealing ring 54 and the seal I8 is filled with water under a high pressure, the pressure of the water on the inner side of the plate forces the plate toatheright, as viewedin Fig. 2, sliding This forces the plate very tightly against the sealing ring to prevent leakage therebetween. Thus, the plate may be closed by rotating it until it is moved into relatively light engagement with the sealing ring 64 and the pressure of water subsequently supplied to the unit l8 will cause tight engagement therebetween.

In the operation of the apparatus described hereinabove, to start an extruding and vulcanizing operation, steam to the pipe is turned off, and water to the pipe is turned off. The core II is passed around the supply capstan I5 through the extruder IS, the vulcanizing tube I1 and the pipe into the housing 44 while the closure plate 10 is in the position shown inbroken lines (Fig. 2). An operator of the apparatus then pulls enough of the core into the housing to 'eX- tend around'the return sheave and through the tube 4| to the cooling trough l9, and strings the core through these elements. The closure plate 10 (Fig. 2) then is slid to the right, as viewed in Fig. 2, until the thread 14 on the shaft 12 engages the thread 52 projecting'into the core 5| and the shaft 121s turnedthrough'the plate I0 and the handle 7| to screw the thread into the thread 52. This is continued until the bevelled periphery H of the plate 10 is moved into engagement with the face of the sealing ring 64.

The end of the core projecting into the cooling trough 19 then is pulled through the apparatus, placed upon the takeup capstan 2| and is secured on the takeup reel 2|),ahd steam is supplied through the vulcanizing tube I! through the pipe 25 and water is then su'pplied'to the housing 44 through the pipe 30. The-water pressure through the closure plate 10 may be accomplished very rapidly since the unthreaded portion of the bore 5| and the unthreaded portion of the shaft 13 are sufficiently long and the threads 52 and 14 are sufiiciently short that the closure plate 10 need be spun only two or three turns to cause disengagement between the threads 52 and I4, and the major portion of the movement of the plate 10 may be completed merely by pushing it. Hence, the opening 52 may be opened'or closed very rapidly. The length of the threads 52 and 14 is just sufiicient to latch the plate Ill in light engagement with the sealing ring 64 so that'there is no excess screwing action in closing the opening 62, and substantially all the necessary sealing thrust is effected by the pressure of the-water on the inner side of the plate l0.

What is claimed is: 7

1. An apparatus for continuously making vulcanized articles, which comprises. a cylindrical housing provided with a pair of openings therein, said housing being provided with a circular opening in an end thereof, a closureplate adapted to close said last-mentioned opening in the housing, a guide projecting from an end of the housing opposite to the end thereof in which the opening is formed, slide means connected to the plate for mounting the plate slidably on the guide, and

means for moving the plate to a position closing the opening in the housing.

2. A seal for a continuous vulcanizing tube, which comprises a hollow water type housing having an inlet opening and an outlet opening, said housing being provided with a hand-hole therein, a guideway mounted in the housing, a closure plate mounted in the housing for closing the hand-hole in the side of the housing, a slide mounted in the guideway for mounting the closure plate for movement toward and away from the hand-hole, and means for locking the slide in a position in which the closure plate is in a position closing the hand-hole, said plate being slidably mounted on the slide to permit movement of the plate toward the hand-hole independent of the locking means after the slide has been locked.

3. A seal for a continuous extrusion and vulcanization apparatus, which comprises a cylindrical housing having an inlet inthe periphery thereof and outlet in they periphery thereof, said housing also having opposed end walls, a hollow boss projecting from one end wall 01' the cylindrical housing into the housing, a return sheave mounted rotatably upon the hollow boss for guiding a filament from the inlet opening in the housing to the outlet opening thereof, said hous ing being provided with an opening in the end wall thereof opposite to that from which the hollow boss projects, a gasket mounted in the housing and surrounding the hand-hole, a, closure plate mounted in the housing for abutting the gasket to the hand-hole therein, an arbor mounted slidably in the hollow boss for supporting the closure plate and for pressin the plate against the gasket, and means for latching the arbor in a position holding the closure plate against the gasket, said arbor serving to permit the plate to move relative thereto to press against the gasket when water under a high pressure is supplied to interior of the housing.

4. A seal for a continuous extrusion and vulcanization apparatus, whichcomprises a housing having an inlet and an outlet and having opposed walls, a boss projecting from one of the Walls of the housing into the housing to the central portion of the housing and having an elongated socket therein, a return'sheave mounted rotatably upon the boss for guiding a filament from the inlet opening in the housing to the outlet opening thereof, said housing being provided with a hand-hole in the wall thereof opposite to that from which the hollow boss projects, a resilient gasket mounted in the housing in a posi- REFERENCES CITED 7 The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 16,319 Wilson Apr. 13, 1926 1,449,729 Cain' Mar. 27, 1923 2,069,087 Forstrom et a1. Jan. 26, 1937 

